Ala. man killed by holiday tornado

Friday

Dec 28, 2012 at 12:01 AM

PRICHARD | An 81-year-old man who was pinned in his bed by a tree that slammed into his home Christmas night was identified Thursday as the only person to die from the holiday storm outbreak in Alabama, where at least four tornadoes struck.

By Melissa Nelson-GabrielThe Associated Press

PRICHARD | An 81-year-old man who was pinned in his bed by a tree that slammed into his home Christmas night was identified Thursday as the only person to die from the holiday storm outbreak in Alabama, where at least four tornadoes struck. Butler County Coroner Wayne Garlock said it wasn't clear how long the man was trapped in the mangled structure in Georgiana, but weather service reports said a storm hit the area around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. “They didn't find him until the next morning,” Garlock said. “They airlifted him to a trauma center in Pensacola (Fla.), where he died.” The victim's name wasn't immediately released. Only a handful of other people were hurt during the onslaught, and officials said their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Emergency officials confirmed the death as Gov. Robert Bentley toured storm damage in Mobile and Prichard, which the weather service said was hit by a single EF-2 tornado that was on the ground for nearly 6 miles and had maximum winds of about 137 mph. The twister stuck Murphy High School and damaged homes near downtown Mobile before slamming into Miller Transporters Inc., a Jackson, Miss.-based company that hauls chemicals in 18-wheelers. Big containers from a neighboring business blew on to the company's property, damaging the main building and more than two dozen trucks. Bentley said emergency officials were assessing damage to determine whether the state would qualify for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “We are working right now not only on the estimate of the massive cleanup for the cities and counties but also we have to look at the uninsured because the (federal reimbursement) deals primarily with the uninsured,” the governor said. “If you have insurance, that's not counted.” The National Weather Service said at least four confirmed tornadoes hit south Alabama on Christmas day, and that number could still increase because crews were still assessing areas with storm damage elsewhere in Mobile County and Clarke County, near Grove Hill. Forecasters determined that an EF-2 twister stuck Pike County, where a man was hurt when winds ravaged his mobile home near Troy. The twister left a path about 16 miles through the county, located south of Montgomery, and had maximum winds of 120 mph. The weather service says a pair of EF-1 tornadoes with maximum winds of 100 mph struck Marengo County, hitting the Vangale community at 3:15 p.m. and Demopolis at 5:50 p.m. In all, twisters left damage tracks about 32 miles long. Private agencies already are stepping in to help with the cleanup and relief efforts. The American Red Cross said volunteers have distributed bottled water, shovels, rakes and clean-up kits to people in Mobile and Prichard, where dozens of homes were damaged. They've also provided tarps to people whose roofs were damaged. The Salvation Army said it has fed more than 1,000 people in Mobile, and it also was providing food in Troy.